What are some tips for sleeping comfortably with long hair?

I used to have long hair and I usually slept with it braided. A French braid is more comfortable to lie on, but I was never able to master that technique and had to persuade other people to do it for me.

How about just coiling it up and tucking it under a hairnet?

@downtide Yeah, I thought about French braiding it. I’m not sure if I’d be able to do it to myself, either. I can French braid my daughter’s hair with no problem, but doing it to myself might be a different story.

I have no hair now, and I never had long hair to begin with, but I have to respond to @downtide . A hairnet may solve the problem and be a practical way to deal with the issue, but hairnets have to be the ugliest, least romantic, off-putting device ever invented.

Just a vote from the peanut gallery who has had to look at women who wore hairnets.

I was going to say “braid it” until I saw your remark about the discomfort. What about twisting it up into a semi-loose bun?

@WillWorkForChocolate I don’t know about a bun, but if I had a decent hair clip/claw that’ll hold my massively thick hair, I could twist it up and clip it on the top of my head. But any clips that I put in my hair end up falling out because my hair is so silky. Haha, I’m hopeless.

I have medium long hair and always toss it in a ponytail at bedtime. I can’t stand wallowing around in my hair.

I know nothing about hair technology, but I’m wondering what the problems are specifically. Is your boyfriend sleeping close to you all night long, or do you move to separate parts of the bed after you fall asleep? When it gets caught under your arms, is this because you have rolled over on it? Are you constantly trying to move your head and finding it trapped?

And what is the problem with the braids and buns? Can you pile the hair on top of your head to keep it out of your way? Do you use a pillow? Do you sleep on your back or your side? Do you switch around?

I put mine in a bun.
It seems to work pretty well for me, and my hair is really quite long now too.

@wundayatta We sleep in a full-sized bed, so we’re always pretty close. We don’t always fall asleep cuddling but when we do, that’s when my hair gets stuck under him.

I’m a very light sleeper and I do tend to roll around a lot at night trying to find a comfortable position. That’s when my hair gets caught under my arms. If I piled my hair on top of my head, I’d have to use a ponytail holder which would pull too tight. If I tied it loose on top of my head, it’d probably just fall out since my hair is so silky.

I’ll probably try putting a really rough french braid in my hair tonight and see how that works.

I do the loose bun on top of my head. That way there isn’t a “lump” between my head and my pillow, but it stays out of my way. I don’t see why a ponytail holder wouldn’t be sufficient for that, if you’ve slept with your hair in a ponytail before.

If your going to braid it than make the braid loose. You are probably pulling it too tight so it feels uncomfortable after a while. French braid it loose around your head and then tighten it as you go past the neck. Then it just feels cushy around your head without pulling your scalp.

try a sock bun. You can google how to tie one. They’re very comfy for me.

I second @poofandmook. Sock bun.

I asked this question on a couple of my social networks. My hair isn’t as long as yours, but I have the same issues (except that my fiancée doesn’t lean on it often). The bun on top of the head worked well – I just twist it up and use a big scrunchy to hold it in place. another idea was to part the hair down the middle and have 2 side braids behind the ears, so you don’t feel them when laying on your side or on your back. But they might still get caught underneath you. I’ve seen sock bun videos, but haven’t tried it. My hair is just reaching my bra band and is in long layers, so I don’t know that I could get that to work for me… especially since I am incredibly uncoordinated with hairstyling.

I have quite long hair… but I don’t have a bed buddy so maybe this won’t work for you.
I just put all my hair straight out above my head on the pillow.

I wear mine in a single braid. (With a French braid, I always seem to end up with a spot that is pulling just a few hairs, and I can never fix it.) I find it quite comfortable, but then I usually wear a braid in the daytime too. If you know hoe to do a French braid on someone else, you can figure it out on yourself; you might have to stop and think about it at first. I found it very helpful when learning to have my hair wet instead of dry.

I do the loose knot up high so that it’s out of the way.
I’m wondering about this sock bun?

I’ve done all of the above, and the best for me is having my just-right pillow in the right place. A loose braid is sexiest, but a high, soft bun, when pulled out, may create sexy bedhead waves. Night caps served the purpose of containing long hair, before the turn of the last century, and women still wrapped their hair somehow, braids, ribbon braids, etc. If silky is a problem, you may be washing your hair too frequently.

@hearkat you hair is probably cut perfectly for the sock bun, use the scrunchy by starting a ponytail with it, then sliding it almost to the end of the hair, and roll in back up to the top of your head, secure with another. Sexy waves come morning. Rolling under, toward your neck, will not catch your layers as well as rolling over, away from your neck.

I have to go put my hair up for bed

I put it all on the the very top of my head, more near my forehead than the back of my head, in a bun. It is nice because you can still cuddle with it like that, although it does look a bit ridiculous. (It also keeps it out of the guy’s face, which they tend to appreciate.)

My hair is down to my bum and here’s what I’ve been doing: You pull it all up like a pony tail but you just twist, twist, twist into a long rope. Then, if your’e ‘doing somethin somethin’ you flip it over your shoulder. When your’e done, you pull it up into a point, and put it over the pillow and over. You might end up with it round your neck sometimes but my guys thought that was sexy, and afterward nobody ended laying on it. Good luck!

Mine seems to be the same length as yours. I usually just flip it above the pillow, but if I’m tossing and turning and getting tangled I’ll do a loose braid. If that is uncomfortable to lay on, sometimes I’ll lay flat on my back, gather it above my head/over the pillow, and start braiding loosely from about midway to the ends, so it stays bound but doesn’t tug my scalp, and looks messy-sexy when I get up. A very loose french braid looks good in the morning but with thick hair would possibly be too lumpy to lay on. A loose top-knot on top of my head is comfy and effective BUT I worry about elastics causing breakage, especially if fastened too tightly.